Ultra-low latency communication is critical for various applications that depend on the round-trip time at which information is sent and returned. One application that has recently garnered interest for ultra-low latency is electronic trading. For example, some trading firms are now using FPGAs to improve throughput and latency performances of their trading equipment. To further improve speed, trading firms deploy their trading infrastructure directly into the financial exchange data centers.
It is well known that microwave and laser radio technologies are used to interconnect financial exchanges and electronic components within financial exchanges to provide lower latency. Optical fiber links are also used to interconnect financial exchanges and electronic components within financial exchanges. Data between financial exchange data centers and trading firms are generally sent and received over 1G, 10G, or 40G data links. The trading firms may also install their trading equipment directly within the financial exchange data center, which can also contribute to decreasing latency. The data links may be electrical, microwave, radio frequency, or optical fiber Ethernet links.